FALLS CHURCH, Va. — A forensic psychologist testified Tuesday that actor Amber Heard suffers from borderline personality disorder and histrionic personality disorder, as the civil lawsuit between her and ex-husband Johnny Depp continues to wallow in the couple’s personal issues.
Depp is suing Heard for libel in Fairfax County Circuit Court after she wrote an op-ed piece in The Washington Post referring to herself as “a public figure representing domestic abuse.” The article doesn’t mention Depp by name, but his lawyers say the article contains ”defamation by implication” because it clearly refers to allegations of domestic abuse made by heard when she filed for divorce in 2016.
The psychologist, Shannon Curry, was hired by Depp’s legal team. Depp’s legal team hired Shannon Curry to be her psychologist. She claimed she received her diagnosis through 12 hours spent interviewing Heard as well as reviewing her mental-health records.
Curry testified also that Heard doesn’t suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder as a result of her relationship with Depp.
Depp’s team hopes Curry’s testimony bolsters their contention that Heard was the aggressor in the couple’s troubled relationship. Depp just concluded four days on the witness stand and testified about Heard’s “need for conflict” and her tendency to hound and pursue him during arguments when he tried to walk away and disengage.
Curry stated that the two personality disorders share many similarities. Borderline personality is a disease of instability, she said “driven by an underlying fear of abandonment.” She said people with the disorder “will make desperate attempts to prevent that from happening.”
Audio clips were recorded of Heard asking Depp to not leave and staying with him after he expressed a desire for separation or divorce.
She also said that borderline personality disorder “seems to be a predictive factor for women who implement violence against their partner.” Depp has said he is the one who was a victim of domestic violence, and that Heard hit him on multiple occasions and threw items like paint cans and vodka bottles at him.
Histrionic personality disorder, Curry said, is associated with “drama and shallowness,” and a need to be the center of attention.
She said there’s a correlation in the disorder with people who are physically attractive and “utilize their looks to get that attention.”
Curry will be subject to cross-examination Tuesday afternoon.
While the libel lawsuit is supposed to center on whether Depp was defamed in the article, most of the trial has focused on ugly details of the couple’s brief marriage. Heard has been denied by Depp. Heard’s attorneys say Depp physically and sexually abused her and that Depp’s denials lack merit because he was often drunk and high to the point of blacking out.
Here are more must-read stories from TIME
